IISD RS @ The International Conference on Green Industry in Asia: "Managing the transition to resource-efficient and low-carbon industries"

Enter your e-mail address
to get free e-mail reports

Daily Reports
IISD Reporting Services (IISD RS) has been produced daily reports at this meeting. To download our bulletins, please click below on the HTML or PDF icons that are next to the date of your interest.

htm

pdf

9 September

10 September

11 September
& Summary

14 September

htm

pdf

International Conference on Green Industry in Asia:
“Managing the transition to resource-efficient and low-carbon industries”

9-11 September 2009 | Manila, the Philippines

Highlights for Thursday, 10 September 2009

In the morning, delegates to the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia met to discuss the state of industrial resource efficiency and new opportunities in Asia. In the afternoon, delegates met in two parallel sessions to discuss issues related to resource efficiency and cleaner production.

Technical Sessions:

Lei Shi, Tsinghua University, provided an overview of China's Circular Economy Promotion Law.

THE STATE OF INDUSTRIAL RESOURCE EFFICIENCY IN ASIA:

Elisea Gozun, former Secretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines.

Shuzo Nishioka, Senior Research Advisor, Institute of Global Environmental Strategies

Hunter Lovins, founder, Natural Capitalism

Hunter Lovins, stressed that nuclear is not a good alternative to fossil fuels.

Shuzo Nishioka, noted the need to transition to more efficient transportation.

THE WAY FORWARD: NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN ASIA:

L-R: Stefan Giljum, Head of Research Group in Sustainable Resource Use (SERI), Paul Hohnen, Director, Sustainable Strategies, Lei Shi, Tsinghua University, and Kazunobu Onogawa, Director, UN Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)

Stefan Giljum, presented global and Asian trends in improving resource efficiency for sustainable growth.

Joel Salvador, DENR, the Philippines

Anna Bella Siriban-Manalang, De La Salle University, the Philippines

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND CLEANER PRODUCTION: Reducing the Resource Intensity of Industrial Processes:

Rismawarni Marshal, Indonesian Cleaner Production Centre (ICPC), described the ICPC's work in Indonesia to promote cleaner production practices.

Iresha Somaratne, Head of Energy and Environment,
Brandix Group, reported on cleaner production methods
introduced in his apparel company.

Robert Pagan, Board Member, Asia Pacific
Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and
Production, used the food industry as an example of the
challenges that face cleaner production service providers.

Van Thanh, Deputy Director-General of Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Agency, spoke on reducing resource intensity in industrial processes in Vietnam

Moving to Low-carbon Industrial Processes:

Chandra Bhushan, Centre for Science and Environment, India, noted that increased energy use will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, and that energy efficiency alone would not be a solution.

Edgar Chua, Chairman, Shell Philippines, stressed that energy efficiency can account for about half of the potential to decrease carbon dioxide emissions.

SIDE EVENT:

Advancing a Low-carbon Tourism Industry: Challenges and Responses

This side event, organized by UNEP and UNIDO, discussed: the challenges and opportunities for tourism and climate change; energy efficiency in the accommodation sector; competitiveness through sustainability in the tourism industry; sustainable eco-and-agro-tourism ventures for low-carbon societies; and empowering villages through sustainable tourism. A panel discussion focused on: the challenges and opportunities for low-carbon tourism; obstacles preventing the adoption of sustainable practices from the tourism industry; and support for government and industry, as well as the contribution of the UN system.

Stefanos Fotiou, UNEP, served as the moderator
for this side event.

Brahmanand Mohanty, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)

Christina Cavaliere, University of Otago, New Zealand

Anthony Wong Kim Hooi, UN Global Compact Network Malaysia

V R Sena Peiris, National Cleaner Production Center, Sri Lanka

Next Generation Biofuels

The side event, organized by UNIDO and the International Centre for Science and High Technology, discussed how the exploitation of biomass can assist the greening of industry. Participants discussed whether developing countries, and especially the Asian countries, are ready to contribute to the development and adoption of production processes for next generation biofuels and biorefineries. They also discussed the sustainability of next generation biofuels, and integrated concepts for next generation biofuels and bio-based chemicals.

L-R: Choo Yuen May, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Sergey Zinoviev, UNIDO, Arvind Lali, and Giens Giersdorf, German Biomass Research Center.